Brainerd, MN – When Shana and Craig Nguyen’s daughter, Taylor Grace, was only 3 years old, she had already battled an aggressive cancer twice – first, when she was initially diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 18 months of age, and after about a year in remission and almost six months of inpatient treatment, she relapsed just after her 3rd birthday.

Superhero Taylor Grace in treatment.

Sadly, Taylor Grace passed away in February 2015. Although it was heartbreaking to lose their daughter, they were soon blessed with another child, Karlie.

“Karlie is our youngest, our rainbow baby,” says Shana. “She was born just six months after the passing of her big sister.”

Fueled by a desire to honor their forever superhero and all the other childhood cancer warriors, Shana became involved in a CureSearch Walk in 2016.

“When I came across the CureSearch Walk at Lake Phalen near St. Paul, I was happy to know that we indeed DO have organizations that raise awareness for childhood cancer in our state. That’s when my husband and I created Team Taylor with family and friends. We look forward to participating this year for the second time!”

Team Taylor celebrating at a CureSearch Walk.

Shana says she supports CureSearch because childhood cancer research needs to be improved. She wants to do her part to contribute to the improvements in treatment options for the children diagnosed with cancer, especially because many of the chemotherapy treatments these children receive are between 20 and 30 years old.

“Our current treatment options are outdated and extremely toxic to the bodies of small children. Because treatment options are so toxic, many children who do survive and obtain remission, often have later serious health complications because they were exposed to so much during treatment. This needs to change.”

Just as Taylor Grace is their forever superhero, the Nguyens believe that all children who face cancer are superheroes. These children are brave, courageous and show incredible strength every day.

“Children who battle cancer still manage to smile, get out of bed, and push through with all that they have. They endure extremely difficult treatments and care. They face surgeries, around-the-clock vitals, chemotherapy, radiation, scans and imaging of all sorts, dressing changes from their IV sites, and pokes from needles. The list of daily procedures and care these children receive is endless.”

Craig, Shana and Karlie with a photo of Taylor Grace.

The entire community is invited to attend and celebrate the memory of Taylor Grace with the Nguyen family, and to join other superheroes, on September 17th at Lake Phalen. Register at curesearchsuperheroes.org/TwinCities.

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CureSearch for Children’s Cancer

CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, a national nonprofit organization based in Bethesda, Md, works to end childhood cancer by driving targeted and innovative research with measurable results in an accelerated time frame. CureSearch is building a $10 million research pipeline to aggressively drive pediatric research grants and clinical trials that have a higher chance of becoming cures for children’s cancer without the toxic side effects that plague current treatment options.